


End Game

by rumpledspinster



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), ouat
Genre: F/M, Heavy Angst, I think that's it :/, It's really not that bad..., Kidnapping, Major character death - Freeform, Murder, Satanic Worship, almost human sacrifice, bus accident, false imprisonment, masturbating in front of dead people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 23:43:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7912114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rumpledspinster/pseuds/rumpledspinster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU set after WW1. Roman Arany (Gold in Hungarian) has thought of nothing but returning to his wife and daughter as he fought and struggled to get out of the Russian prison Krugaal. It has been 10 years and he finds his old nemesis Gonosz Ikrek (Evil twin in Hungarian) stands in his way. This AU is like a metaphorical showdown between Rumplestiltskin and the Dark One part of Rumplestiltskin, if they were separate entities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	End Game

**Author's Note:**

> Arany is Gold in Hungarian and Gonosz Ikrek is evil twin. This fic is a sort of AU with a separate Gold and his Dark One twin (although they aren’t related, it’s a metaphorical thing)  
> This fic is inspired by what I think is the greatest film collaboration of Bella Lugosi and Boris Karloff a film called The Black Cat, which is not related to the story by Edgar Allen Poe with the same name :/

The steam coming off of the newly arrived train hung low on the ground, an eerie fog lending an uneasiness to the atmosphere of the Budapest train depot. Bakers hurried to load bread into the dining car, followed by porters with boxes of wine and champagne. Only a few new passengers came aboard at this stop, and similarly few depart. Its rations and fuel replenished, the train is quickly back on its journey through Eastern Europe. 

On board the train in a cozy compartment sit a young couple who have just been married. They hold each other close with dreamy smiles on their faces. The young man turns his bride’s face toward him, her wavy brown hair caressing her face. He gently brushes it away and begins to kiss her passionately only for them both to jolt at the sound of the compartment door opening. There in the doorway stood one of the train’s conductors. He chuckled to himself at seeing the young couple’s blushing faces and knowing that he had interrupted them. He cleared his throat and spoke. “I’m sorry to impose this on you both, but there seems to have been a mixup in the ticket sales. You see this cabin was double booked to you and to this gentleman.” The conductor stepped aside revealing a short, but svelte aristocratic man who spoke in a strong Hungarian accent. “I’m so sorry to impose upon you both. If it is too much trouble I could see if there is any other seating available.”

The young man was momentarily awed by the stranger and his commanding presence, but he quickly answered, “It’s no problem. There is plenty of room.” The stranger smiled and took a seat opposite them in the small compartment. The young man started the introductions, “This is my wife Merrillynn and my name is Erich. We were just married.” He blushed and smiled as he continued, “We are on our way to Gombos near Vizhegrad. We plan to honeymoon there.”  
The stranger smiled at them as he bid them congratulations. “I am Dr. Roman Arany.” He gave a small bow from where he sat across from them. “I am on my way to Vizhegrad to visit an old friend.”

Time passes slowly in the small compartment as the train makes its way across the countryside and after a while Merrillynn fell asleep in Erich’s arms. Roman couldn’t help but stare sadly at her. He looked up when he heard Erich utter an annoyed grunt and apologized. “I beg your indulgence my young friend. Your lovely wife reminds me somewhat of my own beloved wife. She was my world and it broke my heart to leave her behind, but war cares not for the desires of a man’s heart.” Roman sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them they seemed to shine with strength, but there was a tiredness apparent in the wrinkles around his eyes. “Have you ever heard of Kurgaal?” Erich shook his head, so Roman continued, “It is a Russian prison below Amsk. Many men were sent there and few returned, but I have returned. It took me seven years, but I have returned.”

Erich’s eyes grew large as he asked, “So you fought in the Great War?”  
Roman’s face grew taut as a tortured look crossed his face. “Three years at war and another seven in Kurgaal prison.”  
Erich gulped as he noted the change in Roman’s face. Clearly the man had lived through horrors that he wasn’t keen to share. Erich nodded solemnly and held Merrillynn a little closer.

It was the middle of the night when the train reached Vizhegrad and the passengers departed. It was raining heavily and the air was thick with the smell of wet earth. Roman, Merrillynn, and Erich board a rickety tourist bus that is to take them to their destinations. Roman instructed the driver to take him to the home of Úr Ikrek, and the bus set off.  
The rain and mud adds a spookiness to the surrounding area that is intensified by the weasel of a bus driver who spoke in a gravelly voice. “This countryside was a battlefield during the Great War. It amazes me every day that Europeans continue to live here with their loved ones buried in mass graves beneath their feet. All of this country was one of the greatest battlefields of the war. Tens of thousands of men died here.” He motioned toward the window, “That ravine down there was piled twelve deep with dead and wounded men. And that little river below us was swollen red, a raging torrent of blood from the dead and dying. And that high hill yonder where Úr Ikrek now lives, that was the site of Fort Marmorus. He built his home on its very foundations. Marmorus, the greatest graveyard in the world.”

All of a sudden the bus began to hydroplane, spinning out of control on the dark, desolate, muddy road. The screeching of tires, crunching of metal, and crashing of glass sounded obscene in the dead stillness of the night as the bus went careening into the ravine. Silence. The bus had come to a rest upside down. Roman pulls himself through his now shattered window and then succeeds in pulling out his medical bag. He sees Erich standing nearby dazed and staring off at nothing. Roman rushed toward him and shook him firmly. “Help me with the others.” Roman knelt by what was the driver side window and sighed as he saw that the impact had broken the driver’s neck, killing him. He then saw that Merrillynn was still alive, but unconscious and with a piece of the window frame lodged in her shoulder. With Erich’s help he is able to get her free of the wreck. Erich has sobered up somewhat with Merrillynn lying limp in his arms, but he is still confused and shaken. Roman spoke clearly as he told Erich, “The friend I spoke of lives near here. We must get her there so that I can clean and treat that wound and we can get you both warm.” With that said, they trudged off toward the imposing home of Úr Ikrek. 

Roman banged on the door impatiently. The lights within flickered on and the door was opened by the rat faced, grouchy man that was Ikrek’s housekeeper. Roman pushed past the grumpy little man and into the main foyer of Ikrek’s creepily lit mansion. He motioned for Erich to lay Merrillynn on a nearby couch and then he set to work cleaning and bandaging her wound. Seeing that the housekeeper was still just standing around, he barked that he should wake his master and alert him that he has guests.  
Roman finished bandaging Merrillynn ’s wound just as Úr Ikrek strode malevolently onto the landing at the top of the grand staircase. Roman looked up from his finished work and snarled up at his old ‘friend’, “It has been a long time Gonosz Ikrek. The years, it would seem, have been kind to you.”

Gonosz snarled back, “Roman, my old friend. I must admit I am surprised to see you.” Gonosz turned his attention to Merrillynn and Erich, his gaze lingering on Merrillynn for a moment longer than it should have before he motioned for them to follow him to the guest rooms. Merrillynn was placed upon a soft bed and Erich took up a vigil beside her. Roman left the young lovers alone as he joined Gonosz in his study. 

Gonosz looked up from a dark wood liquor cabinet as Roman entered. “A drink?” Roman shook his head. Gonosz shrugged and took a swig of gin. Roman’s nostrils flared and his voice was sharp, his words whipping through the air like lashes on Gonosz’s soul. “Of all the places to make your home… I suppose it makes sense. The murderer returning to the scene of the crime.”

Gonosz waved his glass in Roman’s direction. “There are no murderers in war.”

Roman bared his teeth, “You were the commander of Ft. Marmorus. Your allegiance should have been to your men, but you betrayed us to the Russians! Because of you thousands of men lay dead beneath us. Because of you I spent seven years in Kurgaal. And you, you scurried away in the night like the rat that you are and left us to die. Is it not to be wondered that you should choose this place to build your house? A masterpiece of construction built upon the ruins of a masterpiece of destruction - a masterpiece of murder.” Roman laughed humorlessly, “The murderer of 10,000 men returns to the place of his crime.” Roman took a deep breath, “Seven years I've rotted in the darkness. But not to kill you. You’ve done a better job than I ever could have at destroying your own soul.”

Gonosz raised an eyebrow, “Then why have you come here?”

Roman’s face was hard and his fists clenched, “Where is my wife? What have you done with Belle and our daughter?”

Gonosz finished his drink and answered, “I have done nothing with them.”

Roman made to grab Gonosz, but stopped himself. “From the moment I was released I have been scouring for news of them. I was able to find out from a reliable source that you told them I had been killed. That you tried in vain to get her to marry you. But then it seems that all of a sudden one day they both disappeared. So you tell me what you did to them!”

The door knob rattled and Erich came in, interrupting the confrontation for the time being. He smiled uneasily, “I thought I would join you gentlemen.”  
Gonosz smiled, “Of course. Help yourself to a drink.” 

Erich nodded thankfully as he crossed the room and poured himself some gin. He took a sip and then noticed that the room had gone quiet. The quiet made him feel ill at ease so he sought to fill it with conversation. “Wow, um… your house is…”

Roman saved Erich from his struggle for words. “It is indeed hard to describe. This place was built upon the ruins of the same Ft. Marmorus that our unfortunate friend, the bus driver, described so … vividly. Gonosz commanded Marmorus during the last years of the war. Perhaps he is sentimental about this spot.”

Gonosz seemed to ignore Roman’s comment, moving past him and directing his words to Erich. “I’ll show you both to your rooms.”

Roman and Erich were given rooms adjacent to the one Merrillynn was resting in. Gonosz bid them goodnight and left. Erich sees that his room has an adjoining door with Roman’s and asks, somewhat embarrassed, if it would be alright if he left the door between their rooms open. Roman smiled at the young man, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Erich chuckled, “Well, I suppose Gonosz’s taste in architecture isn’t all bad. If I wanted to build a nice, cozy, unpretentious insane asylum, he'd be the man for it."  
Later that night, Gonosz descended into the lower chambers of his fortress of a home. He makes his way into the remains of Fort Marmorus and into one of the larger underground vaults. He switches on the lights and begins to walk toward a custom made wooden rack that holds a long row of transparent glass display cases. The rack holds the cases in such a way that they are propped up at a 45 degree angle. He turns on a switch by the wooden rack and the glass display cases become illuminated, revealing the dead bodies of the women within; each one perfectly preserved but undeniably lifeless. The women are all of a similar look; short of stature, pale skin, and brunette. He unties the belt holding his robe shut, and allows his robe to fall open; revealing him to be nude. His member is already erect as he licks his lips and takes himself in hand; stroking his length as he walks past the cases, pausing in front of each case for a moment while his eyes focus on the face of the woman within.

***

Roman was used to sleeping lightly. At the slightest sound he was awake and alert, so he was not surprised when Gonosz opened his bedroom door. “Have you decided to answer my questions Gonosz?”

Gonosz considered Roman for a moment. “Walk with me Roman.”

Roman somewhat reluctantly followed him down the main staircase inside the house to the cold iron door of the dark cellar. They begin another long descent down a second flight of spiraling iron stairs into the former old Ft. Marmorus, now a tomb-like mausoleum that houses many underground vaults.

Gonosz seemed in another world as he spoke, “This was the entrance to the gun turrets. Do you recognize it?” Roman shivered, “I can still sense death in the air.” Gonosz sighed in response, “There is still death in the air. Even with all the dynamite I have rigged under this complex, I still smell the death of the past. It mingles with death yet to come.” Roman’s eyes grew large at Gonosz’s words. It was apparent that whatever was to come next, Gonosz wanted him to know that he held the lives of everyone in this house in his hands and that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them all.

At last they reached a solitary chamber. Gonosz opened the door and turned on a light, leading the way as he spoke, “And this is the old chart room for the long-range guns. The guns are gone, but the charts are still here.”

Roman’s eyes gazed around the room, drawn to the opposite wall where Gonosz stood before a propped up glass display case. Gonosz flipped another light switch and Roman’s breath caught in his chest in horror as they both looked upon the perfectly preserved, glass-encased, body of Roman’s wife Belle. Roman moved toward the glass sarcophagus as if in a nightmare. 

Gonosz stood aside as Roman began to shake slightly. Gonosz sighed and spoke, “Now you see, Roman, I have cared for her well. You will find her almost as beautiful as when you last saw her. She died two years after the war.”

Roman’s mouth moved to speak, but he had trouble finding the strength to push the words out, “How?” He finally managed. 

Gonosz sighed, “Of pneumonia. She was never very strong, you know.”  
Roman balled his hands into fists at Gonosz’s words. His Belle was stronger than anyone he had ever known. “And our daughter?” 

“Dead.” Gonosz’s voice was matter of fact and lacking in any emotion which served to anger and upset Roman all the more as he struggled to maintain control of himself. He was trembling as he fought to hold back tears; his mouth gaping open in horror as he tried to speak. “And why is she...Why is she like this?”  
Gonosz seemed insulted as he answered, “Is she not beautiful? I wanted to have her beauty - always. I loved her too, Roman.”

Roman lost all control, “Lies! You killed her Gonosz. You killed her as I'm about to kill you!” They fought for a moment, but as they struggled with one another Gonosz reminded Roman of the dynamite. “You wouldn’t want to be the cause of that young couple losing their future would you Roman?”  
Roman backed off of Gonosz. His rational mind won the day as it reminded him that they were playing a long game. He had to be careful about how he proceeded.  
Gonosz smiled at Roman as a chiding adult might do to a child, “Come now Roman, are we men or are we children? Of what use are all these melodramatic gestures? You say the war and your time in Kurgaal killed the man that you used to be. And what of me? Did we not both die here in Marmorus seven years ago? Are we any the less victims of the war than those whose bodies were torn asunder? Are we not both the living dead? And now you come to me, playing at being an avenging angel - childishly thirsty for my blood. We understand each other too well. We know too much of life and death. We shall play a little game, Roman. A game of death, if you like. But under any circumstances, we shall have to wait until these people have gone, until we are alone.”

***

Roman and Gonosz returned upstairs and went their separate ways. Roman returning to his room and Gonosz retiring to his own bedroom. Gonosz locks the door behind him and makes his way across the room to where a heavy red curtain hangs. He pulls the curtain back revealing a door. He retrieves a key from a nearby table’s drawer and unlocks the door pushing it open with a creak. He turns on a light switch illuminating a dark staircase going down, down, into the ruins of the fort. He makes his way down a long forgotten hallway to a large room containing two barred cells. One is furnished to look like a room with all the comforts that a dungeon can be afforded. Within the cell a slight young woman the mirror image of Belle Arany sits upon a bed reading a worn blue hard back book. At the sound of Gonosz’s approaching footsteps, she puts a piece of ruby red ribbon into the book saving her place, closes it and sets it aside on the bed. 

Gonosz gives her a lecherous smile, “You look even more beautiful with each passing day.” Romana gives him an uneasy smile as she pushes back further on her bed. Gonosz’s smile fell as he watched her movement. “You won’t always feel that way. You’ll come to love me eventually.” With that said he turned on his heel and strode back to his bedroom.  
In bed, Gonosz reads a book titled Rites of Lucifer: It read: 

“In the night, in the dark of the full moon, the High Priest assembles his disciples for the sacrifice. The chosen maiden is brought before the crowd and the rites performed.”  
The next day - a sunshiny one, both Roman and Gonosz show an obvious interest in Merrillynn 's health - although she remembers nothing following the accident, she has recovered fully. The four of them eat breakfast in silence. After breakfast Merrillynn complained of a bit of a headache and returned to her room. She laid down upon the bed and closed her eyes, but sensing that someone was watching her, she opened them again to see Gonosz in the doorway. Gonosz’s eyes linger a long time on Merrillynn - she senses his interest in her and is clear in her unease as she hastily covers herself with the blanket. Gonosz sighed dejectedly at her sudden modesty. He turned from the doorway and returned downstairs. 

Roman watches as Gonosz descends the stairs and silently wishes that hell would open up and swallow the vile man whole as Gonosz speaks in a jovial tone. “As you already know, I am a practitioner of the dark arts, and as it happens I am having a Black Mass tonight.” Roman’s nose flared in anger already seeing the thoughts in Gonosz’s mind as clear as if he had spoken them aloud. Gonosz smiled at the change in Roman’s demeanor, “Oh don’t worry. You’re invited.” 

Roman’s voice was cold and calm, “I won’t let you hurt that girl.” 

Gonosz placed a hand on his chest as his face showed mock surprise, “Me? Harm her?” He giggled childishly. “I tell you what. You know how I love games. Let’s play a game of chess for her, a game of death. You interested?”

Roman’s face sneered in disgust, “I won’t let you harm that child.”

Gonosz clapped his hands happily as he set out his chess set. “So you are interested. I thought you would be. Well if it makes you feel better I’m really not that interested. Only spiritually of course.”

Roman raised an eyebrow, “Spiritually?”

Gonosz answered, his eyes never leaving the ornate chess game on the table. “Tonight, it is the full moon. We shall gather and... You really should come Roman. The ceremony will interest you.”

Roman’s nose flared in annoyance, “Don't pretend Gonosz. There was nothing spiritual in your eyes when you looked at that girl. You plan to keep her here.”

“Perhaps.”  
Roman watched with disgust as Gonosz caressed the breasts of his Queen chess piece with his finger. His voice was firm, “I intend to let her go.”

Gonosz chuckled, “Is that a challenge Roman?”

“Yes, if you dare to fight it out alone.”

Gonosz smiled widely his eyes looking a bit crazed, “Do you dare play chess with me for her?”

Roman sighed, “Yes. I will even play you chess for her - provided if I win, they are free to go.”

“You won't win, Roman.”

Erich tapped on the doorway of Merrillynn ’s room. She turned in sighed in relief. “Oh Erich! I think we should leave this place.” Erich crossed the room and took her hands in his own. “I feel the same way. That Gonosz guy gives me the creeps.” 

Erich comes down the stairs and stands before the table where Roman and Gonosz are in the middle of a very heated chess game. Erich cleared his throat, "Merrillynn and I must get back down to Vizhegrad. You see, Merrillynn must communicate with her parents in Vienna." 

Gonosz pauses the game and looks to Erich for a moment before calling for his housekeeper and asking him to please take the young couple to Vizhegrad. Erich graciously thanks Gonosz for his hospitality, but Gonosz’s servant quickly returns with news that "the car is out of commission. It will take some time to repair it."

Erich takes a deep breath and asks if he can use a telephone to make a call to the hotel in town. Gonosz sighs in annoyance as he points to a phone across the room. Erich picks up the receiver and discovers that the phone is dead. Gonosz cleverly chooses his words as he whispers to Roman in a voice of mock surprise, “Did you hear that, Roman? The phone is dead. Even the phone is dead.”

Sensing some danger and realizing that they are trapped, Erich is determined to leave. He returns upstairs to Merrillynn ’s room. “Come along Merrillynn. We're getting out of here fast...We're leaving if we have to walk to Vizhegrad." They descend the staircase just as Roman is check-mated in their game of fate. Gonosz wins the game and Merrillynn. He leans across the chessboard looking every inch the snake as he hissed, “You lose Roman.”

As Erich and Merrillynn attempt to leave the main entrance, Erich is struck unconscious on the back of his head by Gonosz’s housekeeper. Merrillynn reacts by screaming and fainting. Another of Gonosz’s servants picks her up and takes her back to her upstairs bedroom. 

Roman is concerned, but helpless as he looks on passively: "I hope you won't carry this too far Gonosz." 

Gonosz waves away Roman’s fears as he asks for Erich to be deposited in the old gun turret room down in the cellar.

Triumphant over his chess victory and the successful kidnapping, Gonosz plays a Bach toccata on the great organ in the main room in the terrace, venting his emotions and waiting until darkness falls. The fortress reverberates with the thunderous chords of the solemn music. 

Roman takes this opportunity to sneak up to Merrillynn 's bedroom, Roman lets himself in and tries to assure her that he is on her side. He places his hands up in a show of surrender as he speaks softly. “We are all in danger. Gonosz is a mad beast, I know. I know, I've seen the proof. He took Belle my wife and murdered her. And murdered my child, my own sweet namesake Romana.”

Merrillynn backed up in horror, “And you let him live? “

Roman sighed, “I bide my time. It shall be soon, very soon. Until then, I must let him believe he has won. Did you ever hear of Satanism, the worship of the devil, of evil? Gonosz is the great modern priest of this ancient cult, and tonight, during the full moon, the rites of Lucifer are celebrated. If I am not mistaken, he intends you to play a part in that ritual. A very important part.” Terrified, Merrillynn jumps up and seeks a protective embrace from Roman. He holds her close and comforts her, “There child. Be brave, no matter how hopeless it all seems.” The organ music ceases and Roman looks around warily. “Be brave.”

After leaving her room, Roman finds Gonosz waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Gonosz goes up the stairs and grabs Merrillynn roughly by the hand, dragging her into his room and through the passage way to the dungeon. He unlocks the lock, and pushes her into the small adjacent cell next to Romana and locks the door. He turns on his heel and storms back up the hallway. 

Merrillynn sees that she shares this dungeon with a young woman and asks her her name. The woman looks to see that Gonosz has left before whispering, “Romana.”

“Romana! Not Romana Arany?” Merrillynn can barely control her excitement. 

Romana is confused as she answers hesitantly, “Yes… how did you know my name?”

Merrillynn sighed in relief, “Well I, I know your father.” Romana looked sad and hurt as she answered, “You are mistaken.” Her voice hesitant, “My father died in prison.” 

Merrillynn explains that Romana’s father, Roman, did not perish in the destruction of Marmaros when she was a young girl. Merrillynn tells her that her father is indeed alive and is attempting to rescue her. When Romana just stared in shock, Merrillynn shouted, "Romana, do you understand me? Your father has come for you." 

Just then Gonosz entered the room and gave Merrillyn a murderous stare. Romana’s voice cut through the momentary silence, “You lied to me.” She turned away from the bars that separated the cells and instead focused her murderous gaze on Gonosz. “YOU LIED TO ME!” Gonosz rushed at the bars causing Romana to back up in surprise. He yells at her through the bars, “DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!” His eyes are crazed and he is trembling; the sight sending a chill down Romana’s spine. Gonosz continued, “She should have been mine! You should have been mine Belle! I didn’t want to kill you but you left me no choice!” Romana’s face pales in horror as she realizes he killed her mother. “You…you killed my mother?” He shouts back spit flying from his lips, “She was going to leave me!” His face changes yet again, it is softer now; almost repentant. “Don’t look at me like that. That is the way you looked at me that night. The night you tried to leave. This is our second chance at happiness Belle! I won’t let him have you!” Gonosz backed away in a lurch and stumbled away down the hall into the main house to start his ritual.

As he leaves, two of his servants come and take Merrillynn roughly away for the ceremony, leaving her cell opened in their haste.

Gonosz stands on his bedroom balcony in a fierce, menacing wind as dark clouds race across the sky in front of the moon, Gonosz stares up into the heavens. One of his servants exclaims that they must hurry to prepare things for the ceremony before the satanic cult guests arrive. Gonosz waves him away and whispers to himself, "The darkness covers the moon - this is the night."

Guests for the Satanistic ceremony have begun to arrive in formal attire. The men in black tuxedos and the women in shimmering red silk gowns. Gonosz presides over them in a high priest's black robe with white collar and descends the staircase to greet them. Gonosz leads the devil-worshipping cult members into the main hall of his house where one of his servants is waiting to lead them to a chapel in the west wing. Roman hangs back letting the crowd pass him. Gonosz smiles as he walks past the glaring Roman, “I think this will be an eye opening experience for you.”

During the Black Mass ceremony, Gonosz stands on a simple altar behind a sideways double cross. In fragmented Latin, he speaks the words of the Mass to the assembled devotees, as an organist plays. Roman has move to the back of the dark chapel room, behind the cultists that are crowded together around the altar. He watches carefully as Merrillynn, now dressed in a shimmering white gown, is carried in from a dark tunnel that Roman had not previously seen. Merrillynn is struggling and protesting that she is being kidnapped against her will. Gonosz’s servants tie her upon the two beams of the cross on the altar with red rope as Gonosz chants a litany over her body, offering her soul and body to Satan. She is to be a human sacrifice to the Devil.

Crash! Glass rains down upon the now terrified congregation and they push and bump each other in their confusion. All focus on Gonosz, Roman was able to break the high stained glass window above the crowd with an iron statuette he grabbed from the front room as he followed the group in. Seeing his opportunity during the distraction, Roman manages to rescue Merrillynn from the cross. They sneak away and escape down the twisting metal staircase into the underground tunnels. Meanwhile, Erich has escaped from the dark room he was put in only to find himself hopelessly lost in the tunnels. 

As Merrillynn and Roman move frantically through the dark maze, she manages to tell Roman that Romana is still alive and has been imprisoned all these years.  
Roman stopped short, turning on Merrillynn, he shakes her. His voice urgent and shaky, “What do you mean? 

Merrillynn gulped for air, tired from their running, “She's alive, here in this house! He has her in a dungeon.”

Roman and Merrillynn continue to make their way through the tunnels as Merrillynn struggles to recognize something that will help them find Romana. As they search they pass through Gonosz’s collection room of dead women propped up like wine bottles in a custom rack. Merrillynn shrieks in terror at the sight of them and Roman shakes in burning rage. They continue their search into the next room finding it to be some sort of observation laboratory room where it appears the women were embalmed. In addition, it seemed to be Fort Marmours’ original control room and Roman spies what he believes are Gonosz’s controls to the dynamite wiring the complex. 

***

From the moment that Merrillynn was taken away, Romana wracked her brain to find a way to get into the now open adjacent cell. She had spent years trying to get out of her own cell to no avail, but she had never tried to break into the other. She examines the bars separating the cells and notes that these bars seem to be a bit farther apart then the others. She turns her body sideways. Her head turned so that she is looking over her shoulder as she begins to move through the bars. She takes slow shallow breaths as she gently pushes and breathes a sigh of relief once her head is through. She exhales as much air as she can as she struggles to make it the rest of the way and nearly cries in relief when she falls to the floor of the other cell. Romana scrambled to her feet and started to make her way through the dark underground tunnels in search of Gonosz’s chapel and hopefully her father. 

***

In Fort Marmorus' control chamber in the underground laboratory, Roman frantically calls for his daughter. His voice carries to her in the darkness. Romana hears her father’s voice, a voice she had almost forgotten, once again fresh in her ears. She runs toward the sound and comes to a balcony observation deck above Gonosz’s embalming laboratory. She sees that her father is in the room below with Merrillynn and yells down to him. “Papa!”

Roman’s eyes fill with tears and his heart swells with love at the sight of his daughter, no longer a little girl, now a young woman; a mirror of her mother. Gonosz, who by this time had left the cult ceremony and tracked them down into the catacombs, sees Romana in the distance looking down over the rail of the observation balcony. He runs at her and in a swift movement slides his silver dagger across her neck. Romana stands stunned and silent as blood pours forth from her neck like a crimson waterfall. Then she is falling, tumbling over the rail to the floor below. Merrillynn shrieks and faints at the sight. Acting on pure instinct Roman rushes forward as his daughter goes tumbling over the railing and falling toward the cement floor. Roman catches her in his arms and begins to put pressure on the wound. He feels as though he is drowning as hot blood pours forth over and around his fingers like a rushing river over boulders. Gonosz runs off unnoticed and in the moment Roman doesn’t pay it much mind, his focus solely on his daughter. “I’ve got you kitten. Papa’s here.” Romana smiled weakly, her voice a gurgling whisper, “You used to say I was your kitten because I always land on my feet. I guess I didn’t manage it this time.” Silent tears stream down both their faces. Romana looks up into her father’s eyes, her blue eyes shining the way her mother’s would. “He killed Mama.” Roman choked back a sob as he held her close to his chest. “I’m so sorry baby. I’m so sorry.” He rocks her back and forth listening to her struggle for breath until at last she struggles no more and dies in his arms. Still warm in his embrace, but the light in her eyes is gone. 

Gonosz entered the room from the door Roman and Merrillynn had used and sneered, “Look what you’ve made me do. She was my second chance. I tried to make Belle see that we could’ve been good together, but she would only have you. I couldn’t lose her beauty. I didn’t remember having the dagger with me. I just wanted her to stop looking at me like I was a monster. I just wanted her to stop screaming!” Gonosz took a deep breath, calming himself and sighed, “I thought about killing your daughter then. The night that I… but she looked too much like Belle. I thought perhaps she might grow to love me, but she turned out just the same.” Gonosz started waving his hand at Roman pointing an accusatory finger. “This is your fault! Why did they want you?!” Just then Erich came up behind Gonosz and hit him over the head with a brass candlestick. Gonosz fell to the ground unconscious. Roman looked to Erich’s shocked face as he took in the scene he had walked in on. Roman then spoke in a voice as cold as the grave. “Help me put him in the shackles hanging from the wall.” Erich did as he was told and then Roman told him to help the now stirring Merrillynn up and get out of the house. “Now go! Please go!" he shouted. The young couple held tightly to each other as they ran from the room. 

Roman stood before Gonosz and ripped Gonosz’s shirt off of him in pieces. Gonosz has begun to come to. He looks into Roman’s demented face.

With a mad, delirious gleam in his eyes, Roman rants and raves about what he is planning to do to Gonosz.

“Do you know what I am going to do to you now? No? Did you ever see an animal skinned, Gonosz? Ha, ha, ha. That's what I'm going to do to you now – I’m going to flay you. I’m going to tear the skin from your body...slowly...bit-by-bit!

Roman spies the silver dagger on the floor and lifts it up to the light, his daughter’s blood still glistening upon the blade. Slowly and bit by bit, Roman slices skin with the dagger from Gonosz’s face. 

Gonosz’s screams are excruciating, tears streamed down from his strange gold eyes. Roman began to cut the skin away from Gonosz’s chest, over his ribs, grinning broadly as he watched Gonosz thrash and cry, scream and moan. Roman laughed, “Your screams are like a symphony. But now, now it is time for the crescendo.” 

Roman approached a large bank of instruments and switches on the wall. “It's the red switch, isn't it, Gonosz? The red switch ignites the dynamite.”

Gonosz pleaded with what little voice he had left, “Please, Roman.”

Roman tilted his head to the side, an impish grin on his face. “Just as I thought. You were always fond of the color red.” Roman wrapped his fingers around the switch, “Five minutes and Marmaros, you and I, and your rotten cult will be no more...”

Roman sighed giving Gonosz one final look. “It has been a good game, but you lose.” He throws the switch. He can hear the explosions beginning in the opposite end of the large complex. He rushes to his daughter’s corpse pulling her into his arms, he holds her close pressing a kiss to her head as he whispers. “I’ve got you baby. Papa’s got you. You, your mother and I are going to be together again soon. Together forever in the greatest graveyard in the world.”


End file.
